Per the Post:
The apartment building's board has informed a porter and doorman that they have until June 15 to receive at least one dose, or they will be let go.
"The Board respects your decision," read the letter, which was seen by the Post. "However, we hope you will understand that your choice is not compatible with the Board's responsibility to provide the safest possible environment for all Christodora House staff members and residents."The board was said to have offered the two employees $1,000 each to receive the vaccine.
"I never told them that I don’t want to get it — I just said 'not now,'" said Brandon of the vaccine. The 33-year-old porter, who declined to give his last name, fears the vaccine could trigger a flare-up of pre-existing health conditions, especially as he does not have health insurance.Several residents of the landmarked building between Ninth Street and 10th Street have signed a petition in support of the two workers.
Employers are allowed to require the COVID-19 vaccine, and can also legally provide incentives, including cash, to workers, according to guidance that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated late last month.
EVG file photo
19 comments:
Terrible.
They should have free choice and the
option to wear masks.
How could one not wonder if the scientists truly were
just learning about the virus, just how were the major pharmaceuticals
all nearly at the same time able to come up with a vaccine.
Learning, trials and ready vaccines in such a short time.
Maybe Fauci can answer that.
Good. More employers should do this. By now everyone has been eligible for the vaccine for nearly 2 months. Time to continue our March towards normalcy.
I’m surprised that the employees here don’t have health insurance (as one of the non-vaxxers states). The Post article says there is a staff of nine, which I would think puts the building in a category with more professional management. But the building is within its rights to require vaccinations and if I lived there I would support the requirement.
5:58 AM
Fauci has explained everything we need to know about the virus and he vaccine, you have decided as too many others to not listen.
The board of the building could offer those that work in the building health insurance, I'm surprised they don't already do this.
Wait ... the employees don't have health insurance? Something is terribly, terribly wrong.
They came up with it so fast because it was already in development. Please stop this ignorant hoo haw.
give the guy insurance you creeps
Why don't they have health insurance?
That said, get the vaccine... In response to another commentator, they have free choice to work elsewhere.
Just as people should have a choice to wear or not wear a mask, so should employers have a choice to hire or not hire people based on safety precautions for their customers or residents.
What's good for the goose..................
Our super didn't want to get the vax and guess what he got... yes, covid. I think these guys should get the vaccination. But I also think this building should provide health insurance to all of its employees.
This is a tricky situation. I feel for the workers who may lose their jobs, but also understand the vaccination requirements, which are legally allowed. The shareholders and board are well within their rights to require this to keep their homes and families safe. I’m just surprised they are able to enforce it. I live in a co-op building in the neighborhood and early in the pandemic we established strict rules. Non-residents were not allowed in the building (not even dog walkers or house cleaners), and we still require masks if you are in the lobby, hall, elevators or laundry room. But our super has refused to wear a mask and there’s nothing we can do about it. I seriously doubt he has been vaccinated because his own son went off on an anti vax rant to me. He also has refused to do his job duties for years and there’s nothing we can do about it. Why? Because he is protected by the union. I find it hard to believe that the Christodora employees are not also union because we’ve tried to get rid of our super and replace him with a non-union person and were told that’s impossible. The union also requires that we provide generous benefits, including full health insurance, so it’s surprising that the one gentleman quoted claims he doesn’t have insurance. I have a feeling there is more to this story at Christodora.
If you’re in a public facing job, you should get vaccinated. For your health and all of those you interact with.
Perhaps the porter is only part-time? I don't know if the union requires insurance for all employees or only full-time. (If he's full-time, he really should have insurance.)
Honestly, $1000 seems like a respectable incentive, and as if the board is trying to be reasonable.
I feel sorry for this guy but if he doesn't want to get the vaccine, he should not have a public facing job. Full stop...
A totally separate issue is that Christodora House should give him health insurance. If he is part time, then they should contribute towards his coverage.
"not grateful" and "we're replaceable" are two sentiments in the work-world that will get you no where fast. First, you're being paid to work, so work. Second, of course you're replaceable. Everyone is and they will be in a heartbeat. No sympathy for the anti-vaxxers.
Anonymous 5:58 AM
Coronaviruses have been circulating in humans for a very long time, so they're not new to scientists (see here for a 2016 review that focuses on their spike proteins, the key component of licensed COVID-19 vaccines: https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-virology-110615-042301). The prefusion structure of the coronavirus spike protein was solved in 2016: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature17200. This information was then used to design a prefusion spike protein vaccine antigen for MERS in 2017: https://www.pnas.org/content/114/35/E7348. Many of the same researchers were then rapidly ably to apply the approach to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 to include in vaccines (this was literally done over a weekend after the virus genome sequence was published on Jan 10, 2020): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2622-0. This was all the result of pandemic preparedness research.
So the take away here is
1- someone with preexisting conditions doesn't have health insurance even though they have a job. WTF?
2- Commenter 5:58am seems to think they know everything...but clearly they don't. Read some books or watch an easy video that explains it all...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPHgRp70H8o&t=1172s
This is why Obamacare exists- for people with part time work, or who otherwise don’t have employer provided healthcare, to be able to have insurance. There is no reason for him not to have health insurance. If the building staff doesn’t get vaccinated, are residents expected to wear masks in public areas at all times? Maybe vaccinated can go maskless but what about kids who aren’t eligible to get vaccinated yet??
I also agree that CH should require their staff to be vaccinated. Remember that even though Board members are unpaid volunteers, they can still get sued for mismanagement. So a resident gets COVID, maybe or maybe not from the staff members, and you've got a costly lawsuit, win or lose.
As far as providing health insurance, it costs money. So the Board decides to provide coverage, common charges skyrocket, and the Board is in trouble for not meeting their fiduciary obligations.
Finally, note that CH only has about 80 units if that, given combinations. And they've gone through some enormous and unavoidable repair projects over the past decade. There may not be much appetite for throwing around even more cash.
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